The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Raven frowned at Head Sage Yue, ready to defend his beloved Papa.

"I'm not saying that King Jaren was at fault," Head Sage Yue said quickly, seeing the expression on Raven's face. "I'm just giving an example to you to show that betrayal can from any corner, and that we must all be very careful from now on."

"Don't worry, Father," Mana said. "Big Sister Astra isn't eyeing Raven, she only has eyes for Crown Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom. And even if she did try anything, Raven and I are both quite wary of her."

Head Sage Yue looked at her in surprise.

"And as far as Big Brother Jules is concerned, Raven and I trust him and Big Sister Bella as much as we trust each other and ourselves," Mana continued. "On Raven's side, Rook is with us – he is just like Father Aqi, even though his temper is like Mother. Enca is more or less neutral, while Dawe is a problematic – although, I suppose, now that Raven has been crowned the King of the Pearl Kingdom, Dawe should loosen up a bit since he will assume that Raven's position in the Pearl Kingdom means that he is no longer in the line of succession for the Obsidian Kingdom."

Other people didn't know that Raven was going to be an emperor, after all.

Raven glanced at Mana in surprise. He thought that she would have been as offended as he was when Head Sage Yue spoke about King Jaren, but it seemed that she was far more mature and logical than Raven himself was. He sighed internally, thinking that he had a lot to catch up to if he wanted to be at par with Mana and stand next to her as her equal.

Mana would have laughed and called him silly if she knew what he was thinking just now.

Head Sage Yue opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by the arrival of the people Mana had invited. Everyone looked rather curious, and the attendants who brought them in were dismissed as soon as everyone was seated.

"Head Sage Yue, is there something wrong?" Crown Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom asked. "You called us here urgently just before we were supposed to leave."

Mana stood up and cleared her throat. "Actually, I was the one who requested Father to call everyone here to discuss something very important to all our five kingdoms," she said in a polite but firm voice. "We all are aware how well international businesses are running for us, and it is quite profitable for all of us to continue developing our trade relations with each other." She went on to explain the matter of disputes and her suggestion of the international trade council.

By the time Mana finished explaining everything, King Jaren was beaming so brightly that he seemed to be radiating sunlight.

"Stellar idea, little Mana," the proud Papa boomed. Azar and Alya, who were nestled in King Jaren's arms, grinned brightly at Mana as well.

Queen Carolina clapped her hands in delight. "Just the thing we need," she said. "Mana, you really have outdone yourself. It is a very fair proposal, and Raven, thank you for already sanctioning the required lands to the international trade council. It is going to be very helpful, I am sure."

"Just when I think that I have seen enough of little Mana's talents, she surprises us with more," King Corvus said, his dark eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "And you, too, Raven. You have grown so much and so well in the last few months that this old Grandfather is bursting with pride."

Mana and Raven exchanged a glance, their faces flushed with happiness at the lavish praises from their loved ones.

"What should we call this body? Shall we stick to International Trade Council, or should we call it something like The Five Kingdoms International Trade Council?" Jules asked.

"We also need to know the Amber Kingdom's stance on this matter," Bella pointed out. "Crown Prince Mars and Princess Astra – you two are the decision makers for the Amber Kingdom at the moment. What are your views on this?"

Both Mars and Astra looked a little lost.

"I think that sounds like it's a good idea," Astra murmured. "But I'm afraid I'm not very competent in trade affairs, so I will support whatever decision is taken by Mars."

Mars frowned, thinking the matter over. It was true that the whole idea about this international trade council sounded really good, and he had seen first hand how clever Mana and Raven were about making money – this was also the reason why he had promptly gotten Astra all the permits she needed to collaborate with Mana and Raven on the worthless dates that were considered so low class in the Amber Kingdom, but Mana seemed to have taken a fancy to that stuff and had even poured in a ton of gold into it. Even if the entire business failed, the Amber Kingdom wouldn't lose anything because it was Mana and Raven who were putting in all the money – and the poor people in the desert lands were already praising their Crown Prince Mars and his fiancée Princess Astra for quickly approving all the permits needed by Princess Mana and Prince Raven – no, King Raven now – to start the whole chain. Gold was pouring in, people were happy, and Mars had gained support from his citizens, which he was very happy about, and he was quite pleased with Astra's foresight and her demure nature, for she gave him the full credit for the entire thing. It was truly rare to find such a young lady who would whole heartedly devote herself to Mars!

But it also seemed that the Pearl Kingdom was getting quite a bit of an advantage here, didn't it? Since the lands were donated by the Pearl Kingdom, Mana had mentioned that all the ground staff would be employed from the locals in the area and from the Pearl Kingdom…

So – would it be better for Mars to offer some land from the Amber Kingdom as well? After all, this land was bordering the Amber Kingdom, and it would be good if some of the citizens of the Amber Kingdom could be employed as well.

Mars had realised that it was immensely profitable for him to have the support of the general public – it was one of the biggest shortcomings of his own father, who cared nothing for the common people and instead, focussed only on the nobility and the soldiers. All the gold in the Amber Kingdom's treasury was spent on the military forces these days, and even Mars didn't know what in the world his father was up to!

But the incident with the dates and his own rising popularity had given Mars a confidence boost, and he wanted to replicate that in other parts of the Amber Kingdom as well. The only thing was that in terms of the lands of the Amber Kingdom, Mars was not sure if his father King Orion would permit him to part with some like this – after all, it would look really pathetic if Mars announced here that the Amber Kingdom would be giving land to the international trade council right now, and then his father revoked it later. That would make Mars look like an international idiot!

Astra nudged Mars gently, bringing him out of his thoughts. Mars realised that everyone was staring at him, waiting for his decision.

"If the Amber Kingdom is not comfortable with the idea of an international trade council, then we can move ahead with the other four kingdoms, can't we?" King Corvus suggested, narrowing his eyes. "From the side of the Obsidian Kingdom, we have barely any trade relationships with the Amber Kingdom, so we won't suffer a loss."

Queen Carolina frowned. "We do have some trade relations with the Amber Kingdom, but we can certainly cut it down to the bare minimum if they are not comfortable with the idea of the international trade council and wish to keep out of it," she said. "Most of our business is with the Emerald Kingdom in any case, and the new ones are all with the Obsidian Kingdom."

King Jaren sighed. "My Astra is the future queen of the Amber Kingdom – so I wouldn't want to cut off the trade relations with the Amber Kingdom completely, but it will certainly be very difficult in the absence of a unified international trade council. Although, I suppose we could mark up the price in light of the additional risk of dealing with the Amber Kingdom if it chooses to opt out. That way, we can still keep our trade relations with the Amber Kingdom for Astra's sake, but we can try our best to ensure that the risk is minimised for our merchants as well," he said in a soft voice.

King Raven nodded. "Papa is right, the only way we could afford to keep our trade relations with the Amber Kingdom would be by marking up the prices in light of the additional risk.. From the statistics I have been reviewing with Mana, it appears that most of the disputes in cross border transactions are also from the Amber Kingdom."